From

Location

Message

Date Posted

Saegertown Pa.

I came back from vacation a week ago and before I left postage out side the US was 3.05 I mailed two bubbles Saturday and they charged me 6.55 for each. I question the guy at the window and he said it went up and that's the cheapest they have now, I was shocked and told the guy it had to be a mistake and he said he was sorry but that was the cheapest price. Has anyone else run in to this or is my post office the only one doing this ?

2/12/2013 12:43:47 PM

Johnston, R.I.

Sent one to Germany the other day it was 12.75......

2/12/2013 12:51:15 PM

Boscawen, NH

Quinn,

Sent bubbles out to Germany, Poland and France last week and the new rate of 6.55 applied to all of them.

2/12/2013 12:57:07 PM

President - GPC

Found to beZ the same here....

2/12/2013 1:03:32 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

$6.55 to Canada today and it used to be cheaper than mailing in the states. Some serious effort here to cure the money woes of the USPS.

2/12/2013 1:04:28 PM

Hampstead, NC 28443

$2.07 in states, $6.55 out of the country.

2/12/2013 1:05:23 PM

canal winchester ohio

WOW, your right it was cheaper to mail outside of US till this.

2/12/2013 1:07:08 PM

Pocatello (cliffwarren@yahoo.com)

We're going to have to come up with some sort of system to send one package across the ocean or even to Canada... so that instead of sending 100 bubbles @ $6.55 each, your sending all of them at once for maybe $20. But someone needs to aggregate all of that on each side and make sure everyone gets their seeds. Sounds like a good function for clubs.

2/12/2013 1:36:34 PM

Alaska

Get used to it. And by the way when the GOP gets done gutting the Postal Service and private carriers take over the rates will be 50 times that. Write your Congressman and tell them to stop requiring the USPS to fund their employee pension fund for the next 75 years in a ten year span. That's why the USPS is running in the red. Has nothing to do with loss of letters and the internet. The USPS takes NO Federal money to operate. Those are the FACTS!

2/12/2013 1:57:59 PM

Washington State

I ran into this last week also, I questioned the clerk and asked her to check with the supervisor. The small padded envelope can be sent as large envelope if it fits through their measuring slot. Should be a little over $2.00 in the US Mari Lou

2/12/2013 2:05:08 PM

Length,width, thickness and weight should all come into play. Most countries have measuring slots for the mail and if it can fit through the letter slot unless too heavy then it should go for the price of a normal letter.

Perhaps one of the gents who work for the USPS would tell the board the different standards for letters ,flats and small packages so the clubs( or the people who do seed mailouts) would be better armed when they do mailings.

2/12/2013 2:38:40 PM

Muddy Waters

One solution would be to wrap seeds in something that would protect them from rollers crushing them.Then you could ship non parcel for less money.

2/12/2013 6:42:29 PM

Leicester, NY

Quinn,
I also argued with the person at the post office on those out of USA mailings. Somehow, the price of stamps can go up 1 cent and our bubbles increase 118%. Didn't see that coming, must have been in fine print! It’s going to make it interesting to keep sending out “free” seeds when a 20 dollar bill will mail just 3 bubbles.

2/12/2013 7:20:05 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Spudley,

There must be a lot of unfunded liability in that pension plan and I'm betting that the USPS is the only contributor to it AND it took a tremendous hit in 2008. Pension law dictates that all plans are rated "Green", "Yellow", or "Red" according to their funding level and "Red" is triggering a mandated action by the employer.

Multi-employer contributed plans and employee contributed plans with multiple employers fared better after 2008 and some are better than 100% funded now and there is no underfunding liability unless an employer withdraws.

Too bad the USPS couldn't join with a multi-employer plan. No one would have them right now.

2/12/2013 7:21:56 PM

Coventry RI USA

Had this same conversation last week with Steve D. My out of pocket costs this year is north of $400 and climbing. I sent just under 90 bubbles outside the US last week. Figure the math out on that. Most of the US bubbles I received had far less than the required $2.07. Mailed 75 bubbles out today with 50 more in the am.

2/12/2013 7:27:22 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Ron that sucks! Obviously I don't get the number of requests that you do but I routinely receive a $5 bill from my friends in Europe that are asking for seeds, and therefor I send the same to my global contacts. Which reminds me our club owes you a dollar... Anyways this kinda brings up some challenges having international club members. How can you justify the same membership fees when your seed distribution alone costs $4 more?

2/12/2013 7:52:33 PM

South Hero, VT

I always include a donation now when I mail a bubble. This usually is enough to pay for another bubble, postage to mail it, and something extra for the effort to grow the pumpkin that provided the seeds.

Some people might consider me crazy to do this, but I consider it good manners.

2/12/2013 8:28:38 PM

South Bloomfield, Ohio

Ron,

Maybe it's time to adopt a tougher approach to mailing out seed requests...not just by yourself, but by ALL growers receiving requests: In the U.S., enclose $5.00 with your unstamped bubble. Outside the U.S., enclose $10.00.

In my case and as a club secretary, it's going to require some up-front out-of-pocket cost before being reimbursed by my club, but we're going to have to face this head-on.

Things are really tightening relevant to seed requests beginning with growers sending only to those who will actually grow the seeds. The seed hoarders created that mess.

2/12/2013 8:42:52 PM

Muddy Waters

You can send them postage due in the US.

2/12/2013 8:45:49 PM

Piqua, Ohio

I asked two growers for seeds this year, put $20 in the bubble with a note, and both times the $20 was sent back. I think sending something for their trouble is just the right thing to do if you're asking for seeds, especially if the grower is getting hammered with requests.

2/12/2013 9:37:30 PM

So. Maine

I certainly hope anyone who did not apply enough postage when requesting seeds follow up with a small donation to those growers who were burdened with the extra expense .

Postal rates did go up 2 or 3 weeks ago and many growers who sent bubble packs with return postage 1 or more months ago would not of known of the new rates that recently took effect .

Hope to hear some positive news in the near future on this issue .

2/12/2013 9:59:20 PM

Rhode Island

truck teck has the right idea.

five bucks inside the usa and ten bucks for bubbles shipping outside the usa.

no postage on your self addressed return bubble needed.just your name address,etc.your 5 or 10 bucks covers the postage.

nice and easy. also cuts down on the seed hoarder bubbles as well.

pap

2/13/2013 8:42:18 AM

Cameron, Ont

I'm not sure if it would work, but Jane & I would be happy to try to help any clubs sending out 5 or more BP to their Canadian growers/members. Send us an email telling us how many you have to send. Once we agree to help, send your package of BPs to us in one box & we would be willing to mail each one out directly to the grower from here. It usually costs @ $2 each to send them across Canada. If a BP contain more than 25 seeds each, then the cost would be a bit higher. I'm not sure how much higher, but I could find out the next time I'm at the post office. We just can't do this for everyone, as it would take a lot of time on our part, but we would be willing to help the clubs & the guys that donate seeds to clubs for fundraisers. If you would like our help, please email us gvgo@i-zoom.net & we'll see if it's feasible to do.

Jane & Phil Hunt
GVGO

2/13/2013 9:16:17 AM

Washington State

one of the issues is if the P.O. clerk enters it as a package and not an envelope. Envelopes (even the padded ones) mail for a lot less. Call them on it and they will usually change it to envelope, if not ask for a supervisor. ML

2/13/2013 10:07:22 AM

Santa Rosa, CA.

It's not an envelope if it's more than 1/4 inch thick. It's a parcel.

2/13/2013 9:02:18 PM

Alaska

TruckTech1471
No other company/corporation in the history of our nation has been required to fully fund their pension plan for 75 years out in a 10 year window. It's a crazy political maneuver by the GOP to eventually privatize the Postal Service. I don't care what the supposed triggers are or what code color you want to give it. It's just another GOP manufactured crisis. If you guys think the USPS is such a terrible deal then take your bubbles to the UPS store or FedEx them. We are fixing to lose a great American institution and something needs to be done. Contact your Congressman/Women and tell them to fix it.

2/13/2013 9:46:25 PM

Muddy Waters

Yes the 5$ rule is a good idea.In fact it should be 10$.If you cant pay 10$ for a seed then you cant afford to grow it.Gas ,time, effort,cost to grow giant=10$ a seed plus postage.Why should people get free seeds? giantseed =10$ a seed.No one will be making money anyway.

2/14/2013 7:22:06 AM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

Wow. For the first time since ive been growing, postage is cheaper in Canada than the US. We are $4.36 to europe and $2.20 to the US. $1.34 inside Canada. This is for what they call over sized letter mail. Now, its suposed to be paper only, however some post offices overlook that part. You have to pick and choose. I have to drive 20 miles out of my way to mail bubbles.

Anyway, our postal service is telling us that they are broke, all do to the declining use of letter mail. We are expecting drematic change in services and rates here in Canada as well. They are talking about 4 or even 3 days a week delivery.

2/14/2013 7:43:22 AM

Pocatello (cliffwarren@yahoo.com)

I like the $5/$10 idea.

The other interesting solution would be to move it all to Ebay... supply and demand imbalances eventually go away, and we aren't spending bucks to send empty request bubbles.

2/14/2013 9:55:01 AM

Max dimensions for letter at Canada post
L 24.5 cm,W 15.6 CM,H 5mm ----9.65 in,6.14 in,0.2 in
For large envelope
L 38 cm, W27 cm, H 2cm -----14.96 in,10.62 in,0.79 in

There is a measuring decice that the postal clerks should have and if it fits through the slot and is under the weight limits then that is what is what it should be considered.
Countrykid,,I would ask the clerk to show you in the corporate manuel where it says an envelope has to be made of paper. The windows in a window envelope are made of plastic.

2/14/2013 11:03:48 AM

According to the USPS web site , a letter or a flat has to be of uniform thickness or it is a parcel.

2/14/2013 11:10:54 AM

Niagara Falls,NY

I'm not to keen on the 5/10 idea. I think if you are offering seeds for the price of a bubble and the correct postage is on the bubble that sould be enough. If you are asking for more than that then the seeds are not free. People that are on a budget or just starting may need that extra money for other growing needs. Just my thoughts on it.

2/14/2013 1:44:04 PM

Piqua, Ohio

it's 5 dollars, most seeds I send I don't ask for SASB, I just send them, but I don't get the number of requests the heavy hitters get.

2/14/2013 7:54:53 PM

Picton,ON (j.vincent@xplornet.ca)

Spudder>>>, im told the rule is contains only "printed material". As i said it is only enforced at some outlets. There is one specificly that i have tried several times to mail bubbles from and are always turned away.

2/15/2013 7:37:07 AM

Muddy Waters

I just sent a 10 oz bubble to canada cost 9.15 cents.

2/15/2013 8:11:55 AM

That is someone who is interpeting the rules way too rigidly. Most just go by weight and dimensions. What can be said! I guess it is better to say nothing and be glad some will use common sense.

2/15/2013 2:58:17 PM

Muddy Waters

Sent out 2 bubbles today for request I put 10$ in each one.I feel this is a break even for the grower.Just my feelings so this is what I will do in the future.Thanks to all the generous people glad to help pay for fertz & such!

2/15/2013 4:44:27 PM

Michigan

How do I get free seed?

5/14/2014 9:02:51 PM